Hi All...

I am now banging my head against a brick wall because i cant figure out a way of making the following audio editing process easy...

I am repeatedly asked to do Avid jobs which consist of repetitive strokes i.e... the footage consists of 4 tracks of audio (2 have voice over and atmos, the other 2 have atmos. The job involves losing the voice-over at certain points dropping into the atmos only. (basically all audio becomes a stereo and i am forever allocating tracks 3&4 to 1&2 (to put the atmos clean) then reverting back to 1&2 to 1&2 to cut back to the voice over. so to my question...

Is there a way of creating a macro so that it can be done via a single click (or two single clicks as i guess 1 would be for putting 3&4 to 1&2 and another would be for putting 1&2 to 1&2).

Any help most appreciated as it would save a great deal of time in the long-run

Thanks

Why don't you cut it all in on A1-2 & A3-4, then cut out what you don't need using Lift. 

Taking the stone sculptor's approach vs the clay sculptor's approach.

Seems to me that you are going to need more than a couple of clicks, regardless.

You'll need to either Mark In and Mark Out (or use add edits), then run your macro - which would probably goto in, match frame A3 then overwrite A1&2.

Use quickkeys (which I've used before on PC) or the macro at videotoolshed (which I haven't used) and you should be golden. Still a lot of time marking up the sections & checking your edits though. Especially if you have waveforms turned on.

An alternative, possibly quicker, way would be to use the punch-in tool with very short preroll - mark in & out for the section to lose then do a VO punch in (just routing A3&4 to A1&2) to replace the sections - you get to hear the edits and it would be quick if you have short sections to replace (but very slow for longer sections).

And finally... you could get your VO clean on 5&6 and just lift out the sections you don't need. You would then need to mixdown the VO & atmos to 1&2 (as there is no audio bussing on MC).

Seems like this points to at least 5 longstanding feature requests, so you might want to post this in the Feature Request forum.

1. quicker waveform drawing (with caching)

2. Audio bussing

3. Inbuilt macro / scripting

4. SDI input available for audio punch-in

5. Selection of alternate audio source tracks in the timeline (by right-clicking) 

Sorry, just reread the first post.

It's pretty quick to use keystrokes "90-=" to toggle A12 and A34 on the source side - just make sure you have autopatching enabled.

I don't think you need a macro (although it would be nice if there was a keystroke that was 'select the source monitor' - I only know of the esc key toggling sides and I think ctl+4 only takes you to the last side you had selected)

Leigh26:

repetitive strokes

Any help most appreciated

Sounds like you may have outgrown the basic Source monitor-to-Composer approach. Try doing it all after prepping all the elements you'll need on the Timeline. Try cutting then lifting atmosphere into position using a combination of Add-Edit, Lasso, and shift+ctrl+dragging. Alternately, you could use Gang feature on two Sequences, with the Source monitor patched from Atmosphere tracks into Add-Edited sections of Dialog on A1+A2- then simply use Replace Edit as you bop from one Add-Edit to another. Either way, you should pick up some time, goodluck. Avid excels at offering choices for doing stoopid stuff like this- or try using Final Cut is you need overtime, lol.

itmatters:

Leigh26:

repetitive strokes

Any help most appreciated

 

 Avid excels at offering choices for doing stoopid stuff like this- or try using Final Cut is you need overtime, lol.

 

Why would using FCP take longer?  Are you not familiar with FCP 7's new Gain Adjust tools?  Ideal for dropping under dialogue audio tracks at a single key press or from the button bar.

There seems to be some overly complicated solutions for Avid posted so I wonder if I have misunderstood the question.

I gathered that he needed to remove & replace sound, not merely gain adjust.

itmatters:

I gathered that he needed to remove & replace sound, not merely gain adjust.

True, but I'm still none the wiser as to why this would take longer on FCP.

I don't use FCP, it makes me jiggy. If you are motivated, get in touch with the folks with the productivity question, post a video showing how easy it would be to accomplish on FCP7, then try using the full avid toolset as described to compare. If you are here on an avid.com website simply to promote your apple product, I'm not interested.

itmatters:

If you are here on an avid.com website simply to promote your apple product, I'm not interested.

Leigh, you've been given advice on how to achieve your aims by some pretty generous, experienced Avid editors.  That, while intangible, is one of the reasons that I like Avid.  I hope some of the suggestions work for you.

itmatters:

I don't use FCP, it makes me jiggy. If you are motivated, get in touch with the folks with the productivity question, post a video showing how easy it would be to accomplish on FCP7, then try using the full avid toolset as described to compare. If you are here on an avid.com website simply to promote your apple product, I'm not interested.

 

I am completely product/brand ambivalent and I am not peddling FCP here at all just pointing out the BS that is thrown around here and the general lack of knowledge about it - see this thread (http://community.avid.com/forums/t/75729.aspx).

Currently I use FCS that will change when Avid or Adobe provide a tool that better suits my needs.  But when someone makes makes a statement one shouldn't fear asking why they take a certain position.  You glibly stated earlier that FCP would be slower compared to Avid,"or try using Final Cut is you need overtime, lol." without ever stating why.  I was merely trying to understand why FCP would be slower.  Now you say you don't actually use FCP!  Once again we find someone willing to pontificate about FCP without actually using it or knowing much about it.

My FCP workflow would be identical to Kenton.VanNatten's BTW.  I fail to see how either NLE would be faster or slower than the other in the hands of an experienced editor they would just achieve the same thing in a different way and of course there are many other ways to do the same thing in FCP or in STP for that matter just like Avid.

I am very happy for you that FCP makes you jiggy...

VGUK2:

I am completely product/brand ambivalent and I am not peddling FCP here at all...

OK, good. Why not amble over to your FCP suite and produce that show-me video I asked for, days ago? When it's done sometime next year, bike it over for a critique- we all might learn something! 

VGUK2:

Once again we find someone willing to pontificate about FCP without actually using it or knowing much about it.

Here on Avid.com, I actually don't have a problem with this quote- it probably sums up the situation best- for both of us!

VGUK2:

My FCP workflow would be identical to Kenton.VanNatten's BTW.  

Yes, we agree on that, too. He speaks wisely, like someone who has paid his dues. I bet he's not a pest, either, on any other NLE sites he visits.

VGUK2:

I am very happy for you that FCP makes you jiggy...

I guess that was a snarky sendoff, but thanks for reminding me. On second thought, better hold off on your FCP tutorial!